(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to vehicle tires, and more particularly to a high-speed, puncture proof tire.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Puncture proof tires are well known in the art. In this regard, reference can be made to U.S. Pat. Nos. 487,419 to Lee; U.S. Pat. No. 2,070,066 to Picardi; U.S. Pat. No. 3,127,920 to Hercules; U.S. Pat. No. 4,945,965 to Kim; U.S. Pat. No. 5,180,455 to Cheng, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,385,191 to Aflague et al., as representative prior art in this area.
More specifically, Lee discloses a tire construction having an outer covering and air filled tubular cells formed between compressed areas disposed within the outer covering. As shown in Lee, the cells occupy the entire volume of the outer covering. Picardi shows a pneumatic tire having a tube and a casing disposed around the tube. A plurality of partitions serve to create sealable compartments such that if one compartment is punctured, the other compartments are not deflated. The compartments are positioned throughout nearly the entire volume of the casing. Kim illustrates a tube assembly for tires including a tire casing and a plurality of small inflated balloons positioned adjacent a tread wall of the tire casing. The arrangement is such that upon puncturing the tire, only one of the balloons deflates while the balloons surrounding the punctured balloon expand to occupy the area of the punctured balloon. The remaining patents to Hercules, Cheng, and Aflague et al. are of a more general interest.
Low-speed, puncture proof tires are also well known. In this regard, such tires consist of pressurized foamed rubber that is injected into a conventionally constructed tire and allowed to cure at a specific pressure. Such tires are only appropriate for low-speed applications since at high speeds, the resulting shear forces destroy the pressurized foamed rubber through mechanical tearing.